12 Years Later, Plan to Help State's College Graduates Buy Their First Home in Connecticut Could Happen

The legislature’s Commerce Committee held a two-hour public hearing on February 10, with 13 bills on the agenda including Senate Bill 849, An Act Increasing the Annual Expenditure on the Learn Here, Live Here Program. 

The bill would “require the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to establish the Learn Here, Live Here program;  increase the annual expenditure on such program to not more than five million dollars; and make such program available to individuals whose annual federal adjusted gross income is not more than seventy-five thousand dollars.”  The program would be in place in less than six months, by October 1, 2023, according to the legislation. 

Co-sponsors of the bi-partisan legislation are Republican State Senator Tony Hwang of Fairfield and Democratic State Rep. Gary Turco of Newington.  That day, testimony was submitted by a lone individual or organization, according to the legislature’s website -a representative of Connecticut Realtors, urging support for the proposal. CTR represents over 20,000 members involved in all aspects of real estate in Connecticut.

If “Learn Here, Live Here” sounds vaguely familiar, there’s a reason. 

The "Learn Here, Live Here" model was passed more than a decade ago, in 2011 (Section 30 of 56-page Public Act 11-140), but, according to the Realtors testimony, “remains inactive due to the act’s permissive language. If implemented the Learn Here Live Here program will encourage graduates of public/private institutions of higher education, technical/career schools, or health care training schools, to live and purchase a home in Connecticut.”

Connecticut REALTORS® urged support because the proposal “encourages Connecticut’s young people to stay in Connecticut… by establishing a savings program for a population who struggle with large student loan debt which in turn prohibits or delays their ability to purchase a home. Keeping Connecticut’s young people in Connecticut is essential to the state’s future. This proposal will encourage graduates to establish roots in the state where they learned, keeping Connecticut’s future in Connecticut.”

That echoes the sentiment expressed in 2011: “It’s is a creative way to address two problems Connecticut faces,” said State Rep. Kim Fawcett at that time. “It targets our youngest professionals and gives them an incentive to stay in Connecticut and over the long term will help bring greater stability to the housing market in our state.”  Fawcett ran for the State Senate in 2014, and was defeated by Hwang. 

When the Commerce Committee met on March 14 to consider the bill, it was unanimously approved in a 24-0 vote.  The bill was placed on the Senate Calendar two weeks later on March 28, where it now awaits a vote by the full Senate.  If approved there, it will move on to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The Office of Legislative Research bill analysis indicates that “current law allows (state) officials to establish the program, but in practice they have not done so.”  It’s establishment would be mandated by the pending legislation.

Under current law, the Learn Here, Live Here program allows eligible graduates to segregate a portion of their income tax payments and use them later for a down payment on the purchase of  their first home in Connecticut.  The general parameters of the 2011 law would remain intact, with some revisions, including, according to OLR:

• The 2023 legislation increases, from $1 million to $5 million, the cap on the aggregate amount of income tax payments that may be segregated annually under the program.

• It also extends eligibility to graduates of in-state public and private high schools (current law generally limits eligibility to graduates of in-state postsecondary institutions.

• And it limits eligibility to people whose annual federal adjusted gross income is $75,000 or less (current law does not have an income limit).

Students who graduate on or after January 1, 2024 would be eligible. To alert them to their eligibility, the legislation requires the DECD commissioner to (1) develop a comprehensive public education program by December 1, 2023, and implement it by January 1, 2024.

The Office of Legislative Research explains that “once activated, the law allows participating graduates to segregate up to $2,500 per year from their income tax payments for up to 10 years after graduation into the Connecticut first-time homebuyers account.

A participant may apply to the DECD commissioner to withdraw some or all of the funds for a down payment any time within 10 years after graduation, and any balance remaining after 10 years must be deposited in the General Fund. If the participant does not withdraw any funds after 10 years, the entire amount must be deposited in the General Fund.

If the participant moves out of Connecticut within five years after receiving funds for a down payment, he or she must repay the amount received on a prorated basis (e.g., 40% of the amount received for departures within four years after the payment).”